Meta expands buyback plan by US$40 billion

Meta’s authorized an extra US$40 billion for share buybacks, announcing the move on February 1 as Mark Zuckerberg called 2023 its “Year of Efficiency.” It’s separate from US$6.91 billion repurchased in the fourth quarter.

Photo: LPS.1, “Meta Platforms Headquarters Menlo Park California” (2022). CC0 1.0. Resized; cropped; responsive crops.

Revenue for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 fell 4% year on year to US$32.17 billion. Net income dropped 55% to US$4.65 billion.

Meta lowered its 2023 expense forecast to US$89–95 billion from US$94–100 billion, citing slower expected payroll and cost-of-revenue growth. Planned 2023 capital spending falls to US$30–33 billion from US$34–37 billion as it moves toward cheaper data centers supporting AI and other workloads.